The Philippine stock market was established in 1927 when the Manila Stock Exchange was officially incorporated, making it one of the longest operating stock exchanges in Southeast Asia. In 1963, a second exchange was founded, the Makati Stock Exchange. The two exchanges operated as separate entities for three decades, although they were basically trading the same listed issues. In December 1992, the two bourses merged to form the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The PSE started its operations in 1994 running two trading floors – one located in Pasig City and the other in Makati City – that were linked via computers. In June 1998, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted self-regulatory organisation (SRO) status to the PSE. In August 2001, the PSE was demutualised and transformed into a stock, shareholder-based organization from a non-stock, member-governed entity. In December 2003, PSE shares were listed on the Exchange by way of introduction. As of December 2014, the PSE has 263 listed firms and 133 active trading participants.

PSE shares are also listed on the stock exchange. Trading in the PSE is a continuous session from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm daily, with a recess from 12:00 nn to 1:30 pm.

Indices

PSEi

All Shares Index

Financials Index

Industrial Index

Holding Firms Index

Property Index

Services Index

Mining & Oil Index

Offerings

Equities

Exchange Traded Products

Warrants

Philippine Deposit Receipts (PDRs)

Trading Sessions

List of Brokers

Asean Facts:

BBB Stable Rating

The Philippines was given investment grade status simultaneously in 2013 and 2014, the highest of which was the BBB stable rating received from Standard & Poor's on May 8, 2014.

Source: The Official Gazette, Republic of the Philippinest

Asean Facts:

Third Largest Recipient of Remittances

The Philippines is the third largest recipient of remittances at US$25 billion in 2013, trailing India and China with US$70 billion and US$60 billion, respectively.

Source: World Bank Migration & Development Brief 22t

Asean Facts:

Low & Steady Rate of Inflation

Average inflation rate decelerated to 4.1% in 2014 from 4.6% in 2011.

Source: Philippine Statistics Authorityt

Asean Facts:

2nd Largest Population in Southeast Asia

The Philippines has the 13th largest population in the world, and second among Southeast Asian nations.

Source: CIA, World Fact Bookt

Asean Facts:

Most Improved Country

The Philippines was declared the most improved country, having jumped 33 notches to the 52nd spot from 85th in 2010.

Source: WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015t

Asean Facts:

GDP per Capita Growth

GDP per capita has grown to US$2,765 in 2013 from US$1,832 in 2009.

Source: The World Bankt

Asean Facts:

Gross International Reserves

Gross international reserves grew by 79.8% to US$79.54 billion in 2014 from US$44.24 billion six years ago.

Source: The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas t

Asean Facts:

Best country in Business English Profiency

The Philippines was named the world's best country in business English profiency in 2012.

Source: Annual Business English Index (BEI) t

Asean Facts:

Debt to GDP Ratio

Debt to GDP ratio stood at 39.2% in 2013 from a peak of 68.1% in 2003.

Source: Department of Finance Philippinest

Asean Facts:

Foreign Trade Increase

Total foreign trade amounted to US$119.11 billion in 2013 from US$81.53 billion in 2009.

The Philippines is the second most-populous country in Asean and this has been one of its major strengths. The country benefits from a large, well-educated labour pool. The literacy rate is over 90% and the Philippines has repeatedly been ranked number one in the availability of knowledge based workers worldwide, based on surveys done by US-based Meta Group. It also benefits from the large remittances from the four or five million Filipinos who work abroad.

The country has a large domestic market and the Philippine economy is less-dependent on exports than its Asean peers. This allowed it to weather the 2008-09 global recession better than most regional economies. The World Bank forecasts that its GDP will expand by 6.5% in 2015 from an estimate of 6.0% in 2014.